Sydney's light rail comes with heavy legal bill

The state government has spent as much on external lawyers for the inner Sydney light rail project as it spent on lawyers for the health, education and industry departments last year combined.

Figures obtained by the opposition show the external legal bill for the 14-kilometre tram line from Circular Quay to Randwick and Kensington has climbed past $15 million so far – amounting to 0.72 per cent of the $2.1 billion cost of the project.

That figure is well below the $73 million the government has already spent on external lawyers for the Sydney Metro rail project. But the external legal costs of Sydney Metro are said to constitute only 0.36 per cent of the total cost of the metro project.

A section of the CBD light rail project on George Street in November, 2017

The size of the legal bill for the light rail line – amid a difficult relationship between the state government and consortium delivering the line, ALTRAC – was criticised by the opposition, which calls the tram line a “vanity project.”

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“Had it done the proper planning for WestConnex and the CBD light rail, then it wouldn’t have needed top-end-of-town lawyers to fix up its mess,” shadow infrastructure minister Michael Daley said.

“This is money that could have been spent on teachers, nurses and our essential public services instead of top-end-of-town lawyers.”

“With a record $80.1 billon infrastructure program over four years it is essential the NSW government has a strong legal framework in place.

“Labor wouldn’t understand the complexities that come with building such transformational infrastructure as all they managed to do in 16 years of government is build half a rail line and announce projects that they could never deliver.”

For the state’s major law firms, transport and infrastructure projects form the major source of revenue from the state government’s legal services panel.

"A vanity project": The state opposition has lashed the light rail project.

In the 2016-17 financial year, the government spent almost $78 million on legal panel billings for transport and infrastructure.

The next largest amount of spending on external lawyers was by the Health Department ($8 million), followed by Premier and Cabinet ($6.9 billion), Justice ($6.5 million) and Planning and Environment ($6.1 million).

The light rail project, scheduled to open early next year, has been dogged by delays during construction, but has nevertheless impressed many with its potential to transform travel through the inner city.

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The government has advertised the fact the contract with the ALTRAC consortium – which includes firms Transdev, Alstom, Acciona and Capella Capital – provides the possibility for penalties should ALTRAC fail to complete works on time.

However, there would also be provisions for claims by ALTRAC against the government; for instance, for failing to specify designs in time.

When she was transport minister, Premier Gladys Berejiklian first said the light rail line would cost $1.6 billion, before signing a contract worth $2.1 billion.